This week we’re collecting food on the buses for Fareshare Brighton & Hove, an organisation fighting food poverty by redistributing surplus and donated food to organisations working with homeless and vulnerable people in the community.

Every day this week we have boxes on the buses on Route 52 and some of the buses serving the University of Brighton too.

Fareshare’s Andrew Trewin, pictured above on the right, said ”Last year Fare Share helped to serve over one million meals within the Sussex area. This year, we are supporting sixty five charitable organisations that feed over three thousand people every day. A large majority of the food that we redistribute from the industry is fresh due to the short shelf life, but these levels can be inconsistent. Therefore long life food is essential to ensure a constant supply of food to help the homeless and vulnerable people within our county and it’s fantastic that this is being collected on The Big Lemon this week.”

The city council is also collecting food at its centres all this week so if you can’t make it onto one of the buses you can donate there instead.

Help us fill the box!

1. If you’re planning to ride the bus, bring some food with you! Click here for Route 52 info and click here for the University of Brighton bus info.
2. If you have no need for the bus this week, you can still jump on quickly and put something in the box, and then hop off again
3. Share this page on Facebook, Twitter etc (copy this link: http://s.coop/1ube8)

The Big Lemon is looking for full time and part time bus & coach drivers to start immediately.

The Big Lemon has a reputation for friendly personal service and we always look for the most cheerful friendly drivers to drive our buses!

We have a variety of positions available for full time and part-time work, both on local bus services and private coach hire. Drivers must be over 25 years of age with two years driving experience. A manual PCV licence is essential.

We have opportunities for immediate start – if you’re interested please download a Microsoft Word application form and email it to us here.

The Big Lemon is an award-winning bus and coach operator based in Brighton. We operate two local public bus services using vehicles which we run on biodiesel from recycled cooking oil. We are opening our own vehicle maintenance workshop on 1 February to bring our maintenance in-house.

Our current fleet is as follows, although this is subject to change:

• Volvo B10M Van Hool 49 seat coach
• Two Dennis Plaxton Mini-Pointer Darts, 29 seats
• Three Mercedes 709s, 25-29 seats
• VW LT45 minibus 17 seats
• Land Rover 110

This position is a full-time post of 37.5 hours per week working principally between the hours of 0730-1530 Monday to Friday although some flexibility will be required to meet the operational needs of the company. The start date is Monday 3rd February 2014.

Reporting to the General Manager, the post holder shall be responsible for the maintenance of The Big Lemon’s fleet of vehicles. The post has no line management responsibilities. The post holder will need to work unsupervised and be able to meet tight deadlines. The post holder will need to be flexible, quick-thinking and able to adapt to fast-changing operational circumstances whilst maintaining the highest quality of work.

Remuneration

• £12 – £15 per hour depending on level of experience and whether you have your own tools
• 28 days paid holiday per annum
• The company will also be offering a workplace pension in the near future in accordance with current legislation.

Person Specification

Essential

• As a minimum 1 years apprenticeship experience and hold either a City and Guilds or NVQ level 2 or 3 accreditation. Exceptions can be time served experienced engineers with verifiable references.
• A full manual PCV licence attained not less than two years ago
• A set of tools
• Availability to be on call for breakdowns outside working hours, on an enhanced rate of pay
• The ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines while maintaining a high standard of work and a friendly disposition
• Good communication skills and the ability to work well in a team environment to provide the highest levels of service to our customers

Desirable but not essential

• Familiarity with Microsoft Office programs and web browsers
• Driver CPC

Responsibilities & Tasks

1. Presentation for MOT & other statutory testing: to prepare and present all vehicles for annual MOT tests and any other statutory tests as required.
2. Preventative maintenance : to carry out routine inspections on all vehicles according to stipulated inspection frequencies and carry out fault diagnostics and repairs as necessary
3. Running repairs: to carry out repairs to vehicles as and when required to ensure roadworthiness of the fleet at all times and enable vehicles to be off the road for the absolute minimum amount of time.
4. Stocks & Spares: to maintain stocks of workshop consumables as required and order spare parts as necessary in accordance with company policies and procedures.
5. Breakdowns: to operate a rapid response service to all fleet vehicles in the event of a breakdown and arrange replacement and recovery of defective vehicles as required.
6. Driving: to be available for bus driving at short notice at any time within your hours of work in the event of sickness or absence of other members of staff.
7. Records: to keep full records in accordance with the company’s policies, procedures and statutory obligations and ensure these are available for inspection by company managers or VOSA inspectors at any time
8. Workshop: to keep the workshop clean and tidy and maintain it as a safe working environment
9. Health & Safety: to maintain awareness of relevant health & safety legislation, undertake risk assessment as necessary and ensure compliance with all relevant policies, procedures and legislation.
10. Training: to attend all relevant mandatory training including external courses required for the job role
11. To undertake all other reasonable tasks as directed by company managers.

There will be on-going training and personal development opportunities for the right candidate.

Applying for the role:

To download a PDF copy of the vacancy please click here

If you are interested in this position please email your CV with a covering letter for the attention of Tom Druitt, Managing Director, to tom@thebiglemon.com.
Please outline clearly how closely you meet each aspect of the person specification, and identify relevant experience in all aspects of the job description.

Applications close at noon on Friday 17 January 2014

Interviews will be held during the week commencing 20 January, with the successful candidate notified by close of business on Friday 24 January.

The Big Lemon was last night awarded “Social Enterprise of the Year” at the Sussex Business Awards 2013!

500 of the county’s leading business people gathered to celebrate twenty five years of business excellence, many of whom were previous award winners themselves.

VIPs in attendance included Peter Field, Lord Lieutenant of East Sussex and Chairman of the Judges; Jason Kitkat, Leader of the Council and the Mayor of Brighton, Denise Cobb.

Presented by Countdown’s Rachel Riley, 15 awards were presented to the winning companies and individuals.

Peter Field, Lord Lieutenant of East Sussex Chair of the Sussex Business Awards judging panel for the third year commented: “I am really impressed at the resilience of our companies and individuals in the face of a slow economic recovery and to see that, far from just staying alive, all our entrants managed to develop their businesses and increase their market share.

“To me it proves that the timely and clever decisions they made while trading through the downturn has ensured that they held their nerve and are ready to take the advantage as the economy steps up another gear.

“Their stories and achievements are all remarkable, and it was only at the end of a very long day of debate that the final list of winners for the Awards emerged.”

Tom Druitt, MD, said at the award ceremony “This award marks the first time The Big Lemon has won a Sussex Business Award, and we are totally thrilled to have won the first award in the new social enterprise category, especially considering the quality of the competition”.

Previous awards won by The Big Lemon include:

• 2008: The Dandelion Award for Sustainable Business (UK)
• 2010: “Best Sustainability Initiative”, Brighton & Hove Public Service Awards
• 2011: “Best Social Enterprise”, Ethiconomy Awards (EU), Gela, Italy
• 2012: “Best in Responsible Transport”, Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Award

The Big Lemon is offering free travel all day tomorrow (7 December) for the UK’s first Small Business Saturday – but only if passengers show the driver a lemon!

Small Business Saturday is a national campaign “all about encouraging everyone in the UK to support small businesses, both on the day and beyond”. As a local small business, we’re excited to be involved in the event and hope that people will join in the fun, hop on the bus with their lemon, and pop into town for free to visit the fantastic collection of small businesses we are so lucky to have in the city.

Passengers who show the driver a lemon can travel for free – but you don’t have to give the lemon to the driver, you can keep it for the journey home!

For information on The Big Lemon’s bus services running tomorrow please click here, and for information on other bus services across the city please click here. For information on events in the city centre please have a look at the special map here.

The Big Lemon has been shortlisted for the “Best Social Enterprise” Award at the Sussex Business Awards. 2013 marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the competition. Celebrating business excellence across Sussex, the Awards is the longest established scheme of its kind in the county. The Big Lemon faces stiff competition, with Brighton & Hove Food & Drink Festival, hiSbe Food and Young Start-up Talent all head to head in the social enterprise category, which is sponsored by Legal and General. The award ceremony is on Thursday 5th December.

Managing Director of The Big Lemon, Tom Druitt, said “We’re thrilled to have got to the finals in the Sussex Business Awards, and it’s a special honour in this category as there are so many brilliant social enterprises in the county providing essential services to local people. We’ve worked hard this year and achieved a number of improvements to services, with an extended 52 route and the launch of a new 44. I’m very proud of the team and grateful for all the work they have put in, and for the continued support of our passengers and wellwishers.”

Once again The Big Lemon will be running a bus to the Lewes Bonfire. The bonfire is one of the biggest in the country, there are six societies putting on five separate parades and firework displays on the 5th. This can mean 3,000 people taking part in the celebrations. Driving is not an option as the roads in Lewes will be closed and there is no parking nearby, and the queues for the trains are massive.

Here you can reserve a set on a dedicated bus that will take you to the heart of the action and give you a guaranteed seat on the way home too!

Departure Dates & Times

• 5 November 2013, 1700 at Old Steine Stop D (next to RBS)
• 5 November 2013, 1830 at Old Steine Stop D (next to RBS)

Departure Points

• Old Steine @ 1700 & 1830
• Elm Grove @ 1710 & 1840
• Lewes Road Garage @ 1715 & 1845
• Sussex University @ 1725 & 1855

Return Date & Time

• 2300
• 0030

Return Pick up Point

• Phoenix Causeway Bus Stop by Cuilfail Tunnel

Please book via the link here http://thebiglemon.myshopify.com/products/lewesbonfire

Come to the Apple Festival!

Once again we’re going to the Apple Festival at Middle Farm this year and once again it promises to be one of the highlights of the year!

The timetable is as follows:

Following a comprehensive consultation exercise the City Council has decided to extend the route of the 52 bus to Old Steine, with two journeys in the morning and one in the evening continuing on to Brighton Station.

The consultation ran for four weeks from 6 June to 4 July, and consisted of postal surveys, an online survey and survey answers collected from passengers by the bus inspector. The survey was advertisied on bus stops, on this website, on the City Council’s website and on Facebook and Twitter. Rottingdean Coastal ward councillors (which includes Ovingdean) also organised the delivery of 1000 leaflets advertising the survey and explaining the options to households throughout Ovingdean.

There were 242 responses to the survey. The result was as follows:

Option 1 (status quo; hourly service from Woodingdean to Brighton Marina): 32%

Option 2 (Hourly service with peak-time journeys going to city centre instead of Marina): 31%

Option 3 (90 minute frequency with service going to city centre on every journey): 37%

Accordingly Option 3 is the one we’ll be running from 16 September. Click here for a timetable.

We have had a range of feedback about the changes. Most is positive but it’s also clear it won’t work for everyone and we are very sorry if the changes make it harder for some people to use the bus. However, it’s clear from the level of feedback we’ve had that the fact the service didn’t go to Brighton was the single biggest criticism of it, and we are very pleased that has now been addressed. We will continue to work hard to improve the service and we look forward to continuing to work with the City Council and the local community to do this.

Commenting on the survey result one local resident said:
“Brilliant, well done you. I will now resume going on the bus into Brighton and for the station, be it that it is less frequent than before when I used it regularly door to door. It was one of the many reasons that we chose to retire to Ovingdean, the bus route.
What pleasant drivers you have who wave and smile when my car needs to negotiate with them. I’ve missed the bus journeys, they gave me time to look around gardens and the fabulous scenery and interesting people on the bus and the pavements.”

Lynda Hyde, Councillor for Rottingdean Coastal ward, said:
“I am really impressed with the amount of consultation which has taken place with the residents. Also, much care and consideration has been given in producing a number 52 bus service to the best satisfaction of residents within the resources available”.

A friend of ours has given us a recipe we thought sounded so good we had to share it!

• Warm bowl and heat oven at gas mark 4 (or 180 degree C/160 degree C for fan oven)
• Mix 4oz (100g) of soft marg & 6oz (150g) of caster sugar until smooth (mix fast to add air)
• Sieve 6oz (150g) of self-raising flour (from a height as this adds air for lightness)
• Add 2 large eggs, 4 tablespoons of milk, pinch of salt and grated rind of 1 lemon
• Mix for at least three minutes – whip to add air
• Spoon into a well-greased loaf tin
• Bake for 45-60 minutes – test with clean knife – if it comes out clean it’s done
• Take out of oven and cool
• Mix 3 tablespoons of icing sugar with the lemon juice
• Prick cake, pour over juice and serve….yummm!

The Big Lemon will be running a free bus from Brighton to the national rally against road-building supported by Greenpeace, Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), the Wildlife Trusts, RSPB and Friends of the Earth on Saturday 13th July at Crowhurst in East Sussex.

Along with local campaigners the Combe Haven Defenders, Hastings Alliance, BLINKRR – Bexhill Link Road Resistance, and Crowhurst Road to Nowhere Action Group people are coming together in the Combe Haven valley to campaign against a huge new roads programme.

The Bus Timetable will be as follows:

• 1030 Brighton, Old Steine
• 1035 Brighton, The Level, opp Southover Street
• 1040 Lewes Road Bus Garage
• 1045 Falmer, A27 adj Sussex University
• 1100 Lewes Station
• 1120 Polegate Station
• 1140 Bexhill Station (arr)

• 1145 Bexhill Station (dep)
• 1155 Crowhurst

The return trip to Brighton will depart at approximately 1715pm from Crowhurst Recreation Ground.

More info about the rally and how to get to Crowhurst from other areas: http://www.bettertransport.org.uk/roadsrally2013